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Atlantic Canada Profiles
Changing the Way We See the Oceans
(Photo: SULIS Aquatic Technologies)
From its inception, SULIS has focussed
on improving subsea vision.
“Both optical quality and field of view
are significantly compromised when you
put a terrestrial camera lens behind a flat
port (window), underwater,” said Adam
Gobi (BEng, MSc), founder and CEO of
SULIS Aquatic Technologies. “A domeshaped
port helps with field of view, but
it is a crude optical element that adds
additional optical distortions and aberrations
that must be properly considered
in the optical design process.”
It is these sorts of optical limitations
that have been the standard for years.
Before founding SULIS, Gobi developed
the world’s first 3D-HD and 5K
full-ocean-depth cameras for James
Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger submersible.
“Jim had very exacting standards
for what he wanted. It just wasn’t
available on the market, so we had to
start from scratch,” Gobi said.
This is what SULIS was built on; taking
explorers, scientists and filmmakers
of the world beyond the depths, and
helping them gain a deeper understanding
of our world’s oceans through the
highest resolution possible.
SULIS has spent the past few years
42 MTR
perfecting its first commercialized 4K
deep-sea zoom camera, the SULIS Z70,
built around optics specifically designed
for aquatic environments.
With 12X optical zoom, full manual
controls, an ultra-wide angle field of
view and pristine corner to corner 4K
resolution, the Z70 is what the world’s
leading scientists and filmmakers have
been dreaming of; in fact, they even
helped build it. Through a collaboration
with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, SU-
LIS has had direct feedback every step
the way from SOI’s top engineers and
scientists.
Chosen as SOI’s main science cam for
its own engineering marvel, SuBastian,
a new purpose-built state of the art science
ROV, the Z70 will soon be producing
the most publicly available deepsea
footage, with live feeds streaming from
some of the most poorly explored parts
of the sea. It’s already begun, with rare
high-quality footage captured by SuBastian
this past December, 2016, showing
newly discovered deep-sea black
smokers in incredible detail in the Mariana
Back-Arc. International Business
Times UK reported that “scientists are
poring over the videos of the hydrothermal
vents to see how many new species
they can spot.”
Filmmakers and producers have also
taken a fancy to the Z70’s capabilities.
To provide the same level of control they
are used to with their terrestrial cameras,
SULIS has built a control panel with a
precision three-axis joystick for zooming
and pan/tilt control, dials for finely-tuned
adjustment of focus, iris, and
other settings, as well as a 7-inch touchscreen
for camera status monitoring and
full control of all settings.
SULIS Z70 Specs
• Deep-ocean camera with live 4K
video transmission and 12X optical
zoom
• Unparalleled optics designed specifi
cally for aquatic environments
down to 6,000m
• Fully-corrected 100-degree ultra
wide-angle fi eld of view (diagonal)
• Large 1-inch sensor for increased
light sensitivity
• 20-megapixel stills capture
• Full manual controls, including a
broadcast-quality control panel.
January/February 2017